WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN CHINA

Our Purpose

OUR PURPOSE

Dignity for women and children. A voice for those too often unheard.

Women’s Rights in China (WRIC) affirms universal human rights. We work to protect and advance the political, economic, social and cultural rights of women and children in China. Through documentation, advocacy and assistance, we bring individual experiences into public view and work with allied organizations and donors to support vulnerable communities.

Independence & dignity

We are an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit organization, unaffiliated with any government, political party or religious group. Human dignity and fundamental rights guide our work.

Documentation & accountability

We document individual cases of abuse, preserve people’s experiences and expose injustice. Public advocacy and international attention help bring accountability and change.

Equality & autonomy

We challenge gender discrimination and address women’s health, reproductive autonomy and social status, supporting equal rights in family and public life.

Cooperation & assistance

We work with volunteers, allied organizations and donors to support individuals and families and deepen understanding of the conditions women and children face.

How we began

Concern for women and children brought advocates from different backgrounds together. Early organizational materials describe volunteers’ concern for children’s dignity and the bodily autonomy of women with disabilities, including online advocacy around involuntary operations on women at a welfare institution in Nantong, Jiangsu. These experiences raised a lasting question: how can concern become sustained action?

WRIC was formally registered in New York State in 2007, with a mission to expose injustice, speak out for vulnerable groups and operate charitable projects in China in cooperation with allied organizations.

How we work

Documentation and reporting: We established our online media in 2007, covering women’s rights, reproductive rights, children’s rights, human rights advocacy, law, women’s health and gender studies. Reporting preserves both events and the experiences of people seeking justice.

Anti-trafficking and missing children: In 2008, we established a website focusing on missing and trafficked children in China. Our work records families’ searches and includes anti-trafficking initiatives, child-bride cases and efforts to reunite families.

Assistance and advocacy: We address harms caused by coercive family planning, gender discrimination and the persecution of rights defenders. Volunteers follow individual cases, while partnerships support initiatives such as assistance for rural girls.

International advocacy: We bring the experiences of Chinese women and children into international discussions, including testimony before the United States Congress about abuses under the One-Child Policy, and encourage cooperation among civil society organizations.

Preserving history, sustaining action

Our early five-year account describes rebuilding websites after attacks, sustained news coverage, and investigations into child brides, orphans in Buddhist nunneries and victims of family-planning policies. Each record represents a person’s life.

Through long-term documentation, rights education, assistance and cooperation, we seek to strengthen people’s ability to defend their rights and help build a society grounded in freedom, equality and human dignity.

Adapted from WRIC’s early organizational materials. Historical activities are described in their original context.